Surgical tubing has many uses for patients confined to hospital beds. Drainage tubes and IV tubes are examples. Such tubing often creates a nuisance if left hanging loosely next to the patient's bed. It has been a common practice to use a safety pin for fastening the tubing to sheets, beds, or the patient's clothes to prevent the tubing from getting in the way. Sometimes there is a need to have hospital tubing confined (held out of the way) but still freely movable, and other times it is necessary to hold the tubing securely so it cannot move. A safety pin, for example, does not adequately serve these needs as a tube holder. In addition, safety pins, as well as other prior art tube holders, suffer from other disadvantages, such as a lack of convenience, being too cumbersome, and the inability to be sterilized and reused.
The present invention provides a tube holder that can hold surgical tubing securely, while it can just as easily hold the tubing in place but allow such tubing to be moved freely. The tube holder can adapt to surgical tubing of all standard sizes quickly and easily. Moreover, the tube holder can be sterilized or autoclaved.